Practice Report 8/15

Saw the first half of practice today and it was a good one. Didn't see everybody so ill give what I was focusing on

QB: Tyler looked good. Overthrew a few long routes but everything else was on point. Schrock had a little drop off today throwing behind a decent amount.
RB: EB was in top form with his F-Bombs today averaging about 3 per sentence. He was really getting on the guys behind Rodney for slowing down at the hole and Josh Ford was really following everything he said. EB was loving it "Every ****in day he ****in shows me somethin"
WR: Logan Gray is starting to become a favorite target for tyler. The coaches were really pushing McCulloch on his route running today but he seems to have the fade down really well. Turbow had a sick layout one handed catch in 1 on 1 drills.
TE: Embo did his best EB impression when he saw Vaughnie go to the line during full contact without his chinstrap buttoned. He lost it and said he was done.

K: Both kickers were bombing them through today. Castor is getting more consistent on kickoffs but Will is trying to learn a full run-up to the ball and was getting much better. Castor is much better at onside kicks.

P: Darragh came out with the first team again and hit a pretty deep 45 yd punt to start but Embo pulled him aside and said "that was great but I would rather you hit it 75 yards high then 75 yards far" Gross hit a pretty good one to follow with good hang. Darragh hit his next one kinda poorly trying to adjust to the hang time focus. Gross then hit a 15 yarder straight into the air Embo said "Not that high" and Gross followed it with "****." Darragh then steps up and BOOMS one probably 45 yds with 4.5 hang Bobby Kennedy gets pumped screaming "Thats my boy Fairview! Thats a good punt! Thats a good punt!" Gross then steps up and if it was possible hits a worse one then his last, right off the side of his foot 25 yards straight out of bounds. Darragh then comes up and if IT was possible hits an even better ball. 45+ with 4.6 hang. Embo smiles and nods his head. Gross finishes the drill with a well hit punt and good hang but lands it about ten yards out of bounds killing his distance.

Ditto that. The guy also seems to know EVERYONE on the sideline (except me anyways). He's what you call gregarious.

The O'Neil story is pretty amazing. The guy never played football and has been punting for like 6 months. A good Ringo story somewhere in the DC. I see it all over Embree's face. If the kid can get this good in 6 months, he's your man. His ceiling is where? You got to find out. The kid runs like a 4.5 40 and is probably good enough to play college soccer and basketball somewhere.

I will also plug JD here as he is what a special teams coach is supposed to be. I was very impressed last week.

Lastly, Ford. The kid tore it up in the spring, but we've all seen this before. A walk-on who looks awesome in the spring (vs. 2nd or 3rd team) and then disappears. Ford seemed to have started on the depth chart this fall behind Stewart, Jones, Goodson and B-Lock (who got hurt right away)... More of an afterthought, so I figured EB had already made up his mind. I hear Ford looked great again in the scrimmage on Saturday. I really think this chapter isn't closed yet on this kid. He just looks good when he's running the ball against live competition. I'll wait to see him do it against the #1 D and later against a real opponent before I declare him a Heisman candidate yet... But I think it's something to be watching for sure.

Just got back. Guys in pads today. Lots of time spent on scrimmage with some ST's sprinkled in

QB: Hansen seems to have trouble overthrowing WR's. He better clean that up. Hirschman was back at practice but was in a boot and not really participating. Schrock seemed to do well during the scrimmage. I'd rather have him out there than Burnette or Dorman
RB's: LOts of guys got PT today. D.D. was getting some touches but EB was on him for not hitting the hole and saying that, "football is a physical sport." I'm not sure what Speedy did but he got yelled at and told to, "act like a professional." Speedy seems to be held to a higher standard than the other RB's. I think Ford is just one of those guys that is best when the lights are on.
WR's: As mentioned Turbow had an excellent diving catch today. Toney will show glimpses but he drops easy balls (plz not a replay of Travon). McCulloch had an awesome leaping catch on the 1 yard line. He will be a threat in the redzone. Canty seemed a little banged up but Kennedy told him he, "wasn't going to feel sorry for him anymore. You're (Keenan) fighting for a job." Gray seems entrenched as #3 WR
TE's: Lots of TE action today. DaVaughn felt Embree's wraith when he didn't buckle on his chin strap. DaVaughn completely laid out Goldberg on a block and ended up making the catch on the play. He also caught a nice TD down the left hash but Embree was furious because he wasn't turned towards the sideline when looking for the ball (attention to detail). Cordary got kicked out of drills by Embree for dropping an easy pass
OL: The first play of the scrimmage the right side of the line annihilated the DL. I think Miller got dinged up just a little and Kaiwi took his place, but I don't think it's anything serious.
DL: Juda was dressed but not practicing. Chidera was back. One play he just threw Harris right out of his way and got a nice TFL. Embree was ecstatic. It will be a shame when we burn Nembot's redshirt. His best days are ahead of him.
LB's: Webb, Major, Rippy. That may look nice but that group is pretty inexperienced. Daigh was getting a lot of PT with the 2nd team and Liloa had a nice INT during scrimmage play.
CB's: I saw a lot of CB play today. Deji had a camera strapped on his chest during position drills. Henderson prolly got the most PT during scrimmage play. I think they want to get him a lot of reps so he is ready. Orms was finally back out there. He looked a little hesitant on that knee but when the play started he went full speed. Him and Sandersfeld are ideally nickelbacks but they were getting a lot of PT at CB. During WR/CB drills Vigo got left in the dust by Clemons. I didn't see him much after that. Deji and Clemons is a battle. Deji gets pretty physical with him. On fly routes, our CB's got burned, but they did better on different routes. Henderson, Sandersfeld, and Orms were the most impressive. Sandersfeld has some good coverage skills. Brownie was working on some tackling drills with them along with Cha'pelle.
S: Harlos was dinged up but dressed. It looked like a hip injury to me. He is skinny. Washington is really shadowing Perkins. He looks pretty ready. That injury seems to have affected Perkins. He seems a step slower and almost like an LB.
K: Oliver solid as always from less than 45. I think he went 3/3 during scrimmage play.
P: See ubl. But Grossnickel seemed the most impressive to me.

A big group from Denver North High School? was in attendance. No DI prospects but probably just building relationships. Chris Brown was supposedly in town but I didn't see him at all. Still working on situational stuff. Embree declared it was Overtime. Moten made an interception and started running it back but Embree got pissed and said he fumbled it and they had lost the game. It was pretty back and forth on Offense/Defense. I don't think anyone really won today, maybe the offense. Not as much special teams today but Mahnke blocked a punt. I'll post more if I forget. Go Buffs

In this era where you've got 85 scholarships, you need this. Figure 15-20 guys a year are redshirting or injured and at least another 10-15 who were recruiting misses or just aren't ready yet... and you're looking at around a 55-man scholarship roster. A good walk on program can bump that number to 70 and provide a solid 3-deep you wouldn't otherwise have.

The build-up of the CU walk on program is something I do credit Halkins for and from what I've seen from the new guys, Embree is taking it to the next level.

Embree isn't going to play kids at the cost of winning, but you will see an effort to play the youth. It's looking to me that we will see Spruce, McCulloch, Goodson, Asiata, Nembot, Tuumalo, Harlos, Oliver, Parker, Henderson and Washington all playing. Embree cares more about getting ready for next year than year 5, when no one can assure he'll be here by then.

Next year's perceived "improvement" will be more important than this year's record. Everyone can look past this year, whether its 6 wins or 3 wins. It's year 2 and especially year 3 that starts to become unshakeable. He wants to win now sure. But he also wants to start getting some guys ready to be in the 2-deep next year.

Also heard that KT showed great reactions/instincts on film and can fly.